


May I Have This Dance?

by EverAtYourSide



Series: Promptis Week 2018 [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Day 3, Lots of fluff in the beginning, M/M, Prom Night!, Promptis Week 2018, The moment when one or both realize they are in love with their best friend, This be an angst sandwich, followed by a bunch of tooth rotting fluff to tie everything together, then a healthy helping of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-21
Updated: 2018-06-21
Packaged: 2019-05-26 06:55:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14995280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EverAtYourSide/pseuds/EverAtYourSide
Summary: Prompto Argentum doesn't think that life can get any better after his best friend (and crush) asks him to be his date to the Prom. However, a series of unfortunate events may serve to ruin their night before it even has a chance to start.





	May I Have This Dance?

**Author's Note:**

> Promptis Week 2018 - Day 3: ~~mutual pining~~  
>  || the moment when one or both realize they are in love with their best friend || ~~“I’ve been dreaming about you coming back and suddenly you’re really here. It still feels like a dream.”~~  
>  This fic was largely inspired by an absolutely adorable AF picture drawn by the amazing [Niansue](https://niansue.tumblr.com/) (I highly recommend you check out their tumblr for a whole SLEW of adorable Promptis art) with [the bois dressed up and ready for Prom.](https://niansue.tumblr.com/post/173648827921/prom-promptis-for-ever-at-your-side-15/) I loved it and knew I wanted to write a fic about it (and of course I can never resist adding in a dash of angst, because I'm a horrible person... xD)
> 
> And while we're on the topic of beautiful and amazing art, please also check out the [ amazingly precious and beautiful piece ](https://izuumii.tumblr.com/post/175108484226/so-the-prompts-for-promptis-week-yesterday-werent/) that [Izuumii](https://izuumii.tumblr.com/) drew depicting easily my favorite moment of the entire fic!! I'm dying and if you like precious dorks in love, I can guarantee it's worth checking out! :D
> 
> Enjoy!! :D

If Prompto was remembering things correctly from health class, he was pretty sure that out of all the things teenagers had to worry about in regards to their health, having a heart-attack wasn’t typically very high up on the list… except for when you’re Prompto Argentum, and your best friend, who also just so happens to be the Crown Prince, decides to ask you to be his date to Prom.

Frankly, Prompto was still quite confused by the whole thing because Noctis could have picked literally anyone else in the entire school to be his date. There were always countless girls lining up just to say hi to him in the hallway and Prompto had to admit that a lot of them were unrealistically good-looking.

All the other boys in school would pay some good gil just to be seen walking around with those same girls, which Prompto might have understood if he actually was into that kind of thing; and yet Noct had wasted no time in turning every single one of those girls down without a moment of hesitation.

Never in his wildest dreams would Prompto have even entertained the idea that Noct would want to bring along someone like him to the Prom as his date. In fact, it was this reason alone that basically lead to a whole week or so of Noct attempting to ask him to Prom in a variety of ways and Prompto being absolutely and utterly clueless about the whole thing.

The first attempt, if it could even be called that, simply consisted of Noct texting, “Prom?” to the blonde and then Prompto replying with a quick and simple, “Yeah? What’s up?” of which Noct must have lost his nerve and replied with, “Video games over at my place tonight?”

The next attempt was a bit more fleshed out, with Noct at least attempting to bring the matter up during normal conversation between the two of them while they had been working on homework at Noct’s apartment. Though, either Prompto was seriously dense when it came to realizing when someone was trying to ask him out, or Noct once again was unable to follow through with his invitation, or even more realistically… there was almost certainly a bit of combination of the two.

Finally, Noctis must have eventually just decided to go for broke, and (under the added advisement of Ignis) he managed to acquire a large bouquet consisting of a handful of a rare species of yellow roses that only bloomed in one very specific part of Lucis.

Once the flowers arrived at the citadel, Ignis proceeded to walk Noctis through the steps of being able to bind the delicate flowers together with a length of gold ribbon along with a small card which simply read ‘Prom?’

If this didn’t get the blonde’s attention, he simply didn’t know what would.

Noctis then invited Prompto over for yet another night of mindless video games, though the video games themselves were probably the least of Noct’s concerns right then.

The moment Prompto entered the apartment, there was Noct just standing awkwardly in the middle of his living room practically clutching said bouquet to his chest before shooting his arms forward rigidly as Prompto walked slowly over towards him.

“What’s all this for?” Prompto laughed nervously as Noct practically chucked the bouquet roughly into the other’s hands.

Prompto at least had enough sense to look and read the small tag before looking back up towards the other, though there was still confusion clear on his face.

“Will… um, w-will you… ugh-” Noct muttered, jumbling his words as he fought to force those seven simple words from his mouth, before taking a deep breath.

“Will-you-go-to-Prom-with-me??” He practically shouted in Prompto’s face and when said blonde didn’t reply within all of a second, Noct continued to quickly ramble through his words. “I-mean-if-you-don’t-wanna-that’s-totally-fine-and-I’m-sorry-for-bringing-it-up-feel-free-to-completely-ignore-what-I-just-said-and-maybe-we-can-just-forget-about-all-this-and-”

“Wait…” Prompto finally muttered, more to himself than to anyone else, before looking up from the flowers in his hands up to focus on his best friend’s now very red and flustered face. “Is _this_ why you’ve been acting so weird the past few days?”

“What…?” Noct shot back defensively. “I haven’t been acting THAT weird…”

“Sorry to break it to you, dude.” Prompto chuckled lightly, “But yeah… you definitely have been.”

“Okay, fine.” Noct conceded as his face opened into a distinct pout, which Prompto had always found incredibly adorable. “But putting that aside, you still haven’t answered my question… do you want to go to prom with me or not??”

“You know,” Prompto smiled wide as he tried not to laugh. “I feel like there’s so much potential for some kind of princess joke here; but really, the only thing my brain can seem to process right now is the fact that you just asked ME of all people to Prom… are you sure, Noct? I’m know for a fact that there would be a whole bunch of other people that are probably much more suited for you to bring instead…”

“If I had wanted to go with anyone else, I would have asked them not you, so I think MY preference is pretty clear… but again, you’re kind of killing me a bit here, Prom.” Noct came back, his voice still an even mix of both impatience and anxiety.

“Well, I guess I don’t want to be the one responsible for the death of our beloved Crown Prince…” Prompto couldn’t help but smile, still consumed by flawless beauty of the Lucian roses Noct had given him. “So… yeah. I would love to go to the Prom with you …for the sake and safety of all Lucians everywhere of course.” Prompto added with a bit of a chuckle.

“Uh huh… sure…” Noct joked back, “Whatever makes you sleep better at night.” He finished as he playfully elbowed the other in the stomach.

~~~~~~

With the memory still fresh in his mind, Prompto couldn’t help but grin as he finally arrived at the venue their school had booked for the Prom.

Originally, Noct and Prompto had planned to meet at Noct’s apartment, before loading themselves into the Regalia and heading over together. However, as things tended to happen when you were going to Prom with the Prince of Lucis, there ended up being some emergency business that came up at the citadel, which Noct absolutely could not get out of.

Only after Ignis promised Noct would still be able to attend Prom with his date, did the prince agree to willingly be led from his apartment.

Prompto, who had still been getting ready at his house at the time, assured Noct that even if they couldn’t drive over together, they could at least still meet up outside and walk in together.

Noct offered to swing by with the Regalia and pick him up the moment his business concluded at the Citadel, but Prompto insisted he didn’t mind meeting at the Prom. It was a beautiful night and Prompto could definitely do with a good walk, so it was a win-win situation as far as he was concerned.

As it turned out though, that was a bit further away from the truth than Prompto had been willing to admit, because he soon found that the closer he got, the more real everything started to become, and the more he started to realize the true gravity of the situation he had gotten himself into.

Prompto was about to go on a date with his best friend. As in a _real_ date the very same best friend that he had had a crush on for who even knew how long. Not only that but a date where they would walk around holding hands and dancing the night away… while every other person in their class watched.

It was one thing to joke and goof around with Noct in the privacy of his own apartment… but here, in public with all his classmates from school watching their every move? That was a completely different story.

In Noct’s apartment, Prompto never had to worry about how he looked, or how he acted; he didn’t need to worry about the fact that he was just some commoner that had no business even being around someone as important as the Crown Prince, let alone as his best friend or date.

Prompto’s attention was suddenly brought back to the present as he couldn’t help but gape at the absolute mass of students that were congregated in and around the large building before him.

People were mingling, taking pictures and meeting up with friends so that they could all walk in together. All of them joyfully looking forward to a night of dancing and fun, with absolutely no worries to hinder them.

Everywhere Prompto looked there was either a beautiful dress here, or a sleek tux there, and although it was fun to look around at all the different prom dresses and suits, Prompto couldn’t help but start to feel even more self-conscious.

It had been such a rush when Noct has asked him to be his date; and then Prompto had gone home and realized he had a huge problem that hadn’t even crossed his mind till now. The moment he started looking through his closet, he came to a sudden realization that nothing in his closet came anywhere close enough to being dressy enough. Especially when Prompto remembered exactly who it was he would be going with. The was no doubt in his mind that Noct’s outfit for the evening would be spectacularly fashionable and tailored for just this occasion.

When Prompto had brought this up with Noct, the raven-haired boy wasted no time in dragging him to the nearest mall so they could find something for Prompto to wear.

Although, as good as the idea might have originally been, it quickly became apparent that none of the suits they found came anywhere near a price range Prompto could work with.

It was a bit discouraging sure, but Noct wasn’t ready to admit defeat quite yet. Not after finally getting up the nerve to actually _ask_ Prompto, combined with the fact that the blonde had _actually_ said yes.

So, in true Noctis fashion, he then proceeded to drag Prompto half-way across town once more, but this time all the way back to the Citadel. Once they arrived, Noctis quickly tracked down Ignis and had him summon the very same tailor used for any and all royal business to take Prompto’s measurements and custom tailor an outfit for him.

Prompto unsurprisingly refused at first, not wanting to feel as though he was taking advantage of Noct’s status as the prince and getting a free custom-made outfit that probably would have been sold for tens of thousands of gil normally.

In the end though, Noct reasoned that he needed to get his measurements taken anyway and the man would already be putting together his outfit, so it wasn’t that much extra effort to tackle Prompto’s while he was already working on Noct’s at the same time.

There was definitely a part of Prompto that still very much wanted to refuse because he believed that it was just far too much trouble to go to just for him. But then he also remembered how stubborn Noct could be and realized that the said prince would simply continue to come up with reasons to persuade him until Prompto finally caved, so he did.

Back at his house when he decided that he should probably start getting ready, Prompto had nearly fallen flat on his ass in surprise as he started pulling all of the various pieces of clothing out of the garment bag that had Ignis had dropped off hours earlier. There was a long sleeveless tail coat, a long-sleeved dress shirt, a very sleek pair of pants along with a long piece of fabric that Prompto assumed was to be worn in a type of ribbon bow-tie around his neck.

The pieces themselves were simple, but sophisticated and that was something that Prompto had been quite thankful for. He expected he was likely to be the subject of much discussion and speculation considering who his date was and if there was one thing for certain, he definitely didn’t need a super flashy outfit adding to all that mayhem.

As Prompto continued to wait idly by waiting for Noct to show up, Prompto couldn’t help but start playing nervously with the two little clips he used to pin back his hair up in an attempt to keep them from falling down in front of his face all night.

While it was true that they hadn’t been officially part of his outfit, Prompto had wanted at least one thing in his outfit that was distinctly him. He was sure that the plain clips probably looked out of place, but these two particular clips had become somewhat of good luck charms for him and honestly, he was convinced he would need all the help he could get tonight.

“What’s a cutie like you standing here all by your lonesome?” A voice suddenly pulled Prompto once again back to the present as he swung around to face the boy that must have walked over to him while he had been consumed by the tornado of thoughts swirling around his head. “I’m here with some friends, but I wouldn’t mind ditching them, if you’re in need of a date tonight.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I already have a date.” Prompto replied quickly. The guy seemed nice enough, but there was just something that made the hairs on the back of Prompto’s neck want to stick straight up.

“I don’t know about you, but I don’t see anyone around here, are you sure you’re not just saying that to get rid of me?” The boy asked in false dramatics as he delved even further to invade Prompto’s personal space, which absolutely did not go unnoticed by said blonde who instinctively took a small step backwards.

“He had something urgent he had to take care of before, but he should be here any minute.” Prompto replied as confidentially as he could.

The other boy was quiet for a moment, and Prompto had hoped that maybe he had convinced him to leave him be, however instead of walking away, the boy was soon joined by another strange teenager that Prompto could only assume was also from their school. Probably one of the aforementioned friends he had talked about earlier.

“Hey…!” The other boy called as he practically sprinted over. “There you are Ethan… we were just waiting for- who’s this?” he asked, having stopped half-way through whatever it had been that he had been about to say.

“Oh, hey Adam.” Ethan noted as he turned to face his friend. “This is uh-” he started to say when he realized that he had never actually asked for Prompto’s name.

“Prompto.” The blonde quickly filled the silence, unable to stop himself, “But if you’ll excuse me, I have someone to-”

“Prompto…. huh…” The second boy muttered quietly as he started examining the blonde closely. “I feel like I’ve heard that name before- wait… aren’t you the one always hanging around Prince Noctis?”

“Well, we-”

“Oh man… don’t tell me,” The boy breathed in surprise as he looked like he had just reached some kind of earth shattering epiphany. “You can’t possibly be waiting for-”

“I don’t know why it’s any of your business who my date is,” Prompto shot back quickly not even need the other finish his sentence to know what he had been about to say. “But if you’re so insistent on figuring out who my date is then, fine. Yes, Noct will be here any second and once he’s here, we’re going head into the building and I won’t have to worry about jerks like you trying to ruin our night.”

“Aweee… isn’t that adorable, Ethan?” Adam laughed, “He even has a little pet name for the Prince.”

The two boys then stared at each other before breaking out into a chorus of fits and giggles, and Prompto was instantly thankful that it was dark out so that the other boys couldn’t see him start to blush. Why did they have to insist on making such a big deal out of it anyway…?

“So how did a nobody like you manage to get the Crown Prince of all people to agree to be your date? Did you blackmail him? Or bribe him?” Adam asked in between his dying fits of laughter.

“I didn’t ask him… he asked me-” Prompto had started to reply before being cut off by the other boy, Ethan.

“I’ll admit you are pretty cute…” Ethan chuckled, “But there’s got to be some other reason the Prince would ask out a complete nobody like you.”

“You know what I think?” Adam added quickly, not even giving Prompto a chance to defend himself.

“What’s that, Adam?”

“The media hasn’t been so kind to the King recently, Prince Noctis is probably just hoping to stir things up a bit to keep the pressure off his old man. He probably thought that if he took some hapless commoner, it would paint the crown in a much more sympathetic light.” Adam mused loudly, eliciting a sharp laugh from his friend.

“Hahah, yeah…” Ethan agreed, “I can see the headlines now… “Fairy tale come to life as Prince Noctis escorts common classmate to his Prom? Read all the juicy details on their night out on the town on page 29…”

“Hah! Yeah, that kinda shit would make the front page in two seconds flat.”

“So how does it feel being spoiled by a prince?” Ethan asked, continuing his tirade even as Prompto was very obviously withdrawing more and more within himself, like a turtle sinking back into its shell when it was clear that the two boys weren’t planning on stopping anytime soon.

“W-What?” Prompto couldn’t help but blurt out, surprised by the unexpected question.

“That’s quite the nice outfit you got there, and I don’t know about you, but I kind of doubt you have the gil to drop on something so high-quality.”

“Yeah, well-”

“Oh, I bet I know…” Ethan snorted in amusement as his friend broke out into yet another fit of laughter at the others suggestion. “He buys you nice things in return to satisfying all his _urges_ , doesn’t he?”

“No…! We don’t-” Prompto once again attempted to defend himself, and once again, was completely cut off.

“OR, maybe he just didn’t want to take the chance that you would wear something embarrassingly cheap looking… he’s got to keep up certain appearances after all.” Adam now chimed in as he elbowed Prompto hard in the ribs, the blonde responding by flinching away, silently praying that Noct would finally show up so that he could just try and forget this whole thing even happened.

Wasn’t Prom Night supposed to be some momentous and special occasion that high school students looked forward to going to all year? It was the first time Prompto had ever been bothered enough to go and so far, he had to admit that he didn’t really see the charm of the whole thing.

“What other reason would he possibly have to keep you around, then?”

Now that… that was a question that really hit home and shook Prompto to the core.

All the other questions, he could laugh off, knowing they were completely ridiculous.

But that one?

It was one that Prompto asked himself on an almost daily basis and just so happened to be one of his biggest fears. The fear that Noct would one day realize that there wasn’t any reason to keep him around and drop him like a stone.

Prompto was in the middle of trying to figure out whether or not he should bother entertaining the two jerks in front of him with a response, when one of them let out a loud whistle as a familiar looking car pulled up but thirty feet in front of the group of boys.

“Well…” One of them exclaimed, though Prompto’s brain honestly couldn’t be bothered to identify which one it was, “Would you look at that… I guess his princely-ness doesn’t have much of a reason to keep you around after all…”

“What are you-” Prompto started to retort as he watched the familiar form of his best friend getting out of the Regalia. However, it quickly became apparent that the young prince was not alone.

There was Noctis, Prompto’s supposed date; and he was climbing out of the Regalia accompanied by a boy that Prompto didn’t recognize at all.

Prompto hated to admit it, but he couldn’t argue that the other male seemed to do a much better job looking the part of an appropriate escort for a prince. He had an air of regality and confidence that Prompto knew he could never hope to attain.

“He’s definitely not Lucian,” One of the boys behind Prompto quickly noted as both boys kept their attention firmly locked on the Lucian Prince and his strange new guest.

Just judging by the body language alone, it was clear that the other boy was in deep. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of Noctis since they exited the Regalia and he seemed to take every excuse he could find to maintain as much physical contact with the raven-haired prince as he could possibly manage. “But I feel like I’ve seen his face somewhere before….”

“Isn’t that the son of one of the Altissian ambassadors currently in talks with King Regis? I feel like I remember watching him arrive at the Citadel a few days ago on the news.”

“Yeah… Ethan, I think you’re right.” Adam agreed, “Damn… if those Altissians know anything, they certainly know how to dress up. The dude looks like he just walked off a fucking movie set or something.”

“No wonder the Prince ditched you, blondie.” Ethan laughed. “You’re pretty cute, but that guy looks like a fucking supermodel. Definitely a date worthy of the Crown Prince.”

Normally Prompto would easily be able to simply laugh off such accusations, but there was one particular thing about the whole situation that really struck him hard.

If everything was really as innocent as he wanted to believe it was, then why… why was Noctis smiling and laughing as though he were enjoying himself and enjoying the other’s males company? It was usually pretty easy to tell when Noctis didn’t want to be around someone, he would quickly withdraw into himself and just kind of stop interacting with said person. Prompto and Noctis hadn’t been friends for more than a few months, but Noctis was a pretty easy person to read and the signs were all there, even if the blonde didn’t like what they were pointing towards.

The two boys behind Prompto kept going on and on about how Noctis and the other boy made a much more fitting couple, but he couldn’t bother to pay attention to any of the discussion anymore as slowly started to accept that maybe he had misjudged the Noct’s true intentions towards him after all.

All of the words and accusations the boys had made were now roaring in his ears. Was everything they were saying true after all? Had Noct just befriended him because he felt bad for him? Prompto didn’t want to believe everything with Noct had been nothing but a huge lie, but the evidence before his own eyes was pretty damn near impossible to refute.

Prompto could feel tears slowly starting to build up in the corner of his eyes, knowing it was just a matter of time before they broke through his defenses and started flowing freely.

_You knew this was a bad idea from the start and you should never have been stupid enough to say yes. Most of all, you should have known that there was never any way that someone like Noct would ever be interested in someone like you._ A condescending voice in Prompto’s head demanded as his body screamed at him to get away from all the prying eyes so that he could just commiserate his idiocy in peace.

Without wasting another second, Prompto took off at full speed. He didn’t care where he went, he just knew he needed to get away. He needed to get away from everyone and everything that reminded him of all that he had lost, or perhaps never even had in the first place.

In his haste to escape, he paid no mind all the jeering and biting comments from the two boys he had left behind. He paid no mind to all the curious people watching as he sprinted as far away as he could get, and he sure as hell paid no mind to watching Noctis as he walked together with his replacement date.

If he _had_ been paying attention as he fled from the crowd of gathering people, he might have noticed Noctis suddenly shaking free of the boy practically attached to him as he caught a glimpse of the Prompto sprinting away so suddenly. Noct’s first instinct had been run after the blonde, but there were so many people crowded around them that Noct lost sight of the other boy almost instantly.

“There. I brought you, happy?” Noctis asked curtly as he continued scanning the crowd as quickly as he could in search of his suddenly MIA date. “The Prom is right inside that building, so if you’ll excuse me, there’s someone I need to go find.”

“But Prince Noctis-”

“You were the one who was so gung ho about coming to see the Prom for yourself…” Noctis groaned as he continued his futile search, but of course, the blonde was absolutely no-where to be found. “So here you are… I gave you Ignis’s number so you can always call him whenever you want to catch a ride back to the Citadel.” Noctis continued as his eyes locked on two boys in particular. He didn’t recognize them, but they _were_ standing right near where Prompto had been moments ago, so _maybe_ they would know where the blonde ran off to so suddenly. “Don’t wait up for me. There’s someone I gotta find before I go in.”

It was pretty obvious that the Prince was not to be swayed from his task, no matter what the other boy did, so he finally nodded reluctantly and slowly started making his way over to the building entrance muttering something quietly underneath his breath.

Meanwhile, Noctis sprinted over towards the two boys that he hoped knew something about where Prompto had disappeared off to so abruptly.

“Hey, were you talking with that blonde guy that was standing over here a minute ago?” He asked quickly, ignoring the look of complete shock on the two boys faces as he approached.

“P-Prince Noctis..!” The one stuttered as the other attempted to make himself look as casual as possible, and of course failing miserably. “I-It’s an h-honor to m-meet you…!”

“Uh- yeah, thanks.” Noctis replied almost automatically before continuing impatiently, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m kind of in a bit of a hurry.” He added before asking his original question once more. “The blonde guy that was just here. Do you know where he went?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure he said something about forgetting his phone at his house or somethin…” The boy who had as of yet had remained silent, answered as he finally seemed to compose himself.

“Dammit…” Noctis muttered to himself as he kicked the ground uselessly. So basically, that meant texting and/or calling Prompto to tell him to come back would be all but useless. “Well, thanks anyway.” He waved as he wandered off, debating whether or not it would be worth it to try and start running in the direction Prompto had disappeared in to see if he could catch up with the blonde before he got too far.

That was of course before Noctis remembered how Prompto ran like every morning. So Noctis couldn’t only assume that meant he was fast _and_ could run continuously for long periods of time. Neither of which played to any of his own strengths, so he finally decided that it would probably just be easier to sit around and wait until Prom got back.

Noctis honestly hadn’t been all that worried when there was still no sign of the blonde after fifteen minutes or so, cause even though his house was pretty close, that was still a short time to run all the way there _and_ all the way back.

Sure, the crowds at the door were steadily shrinking as all of the students started filing into the building, but the night was still young and there was still plenty of time to dance, goof-off and just have an all-around fun time. There was no reason to think that anything catastrophic had happened quite yet…

Noctis only started to really get worried after a whole half-hour had gone by and he _still_ had yet to heard anything. Even if Prompto wasn’t in a rush to get back, he should have _at least_ gotten to his house by now and texted him to let him know why he ran off and/or why he hadn’t gotten back yet.

It was now quickly getting to the point where Noctis was just about the only person still outside, apart from other students who were coming outside to have a bit of a break and get a little fresh air.

It was now getting to the point where Noctis was starting to get restless. There had to be _something_ that he could do to get in touch with Prompto. He wracked his brain, but he was seriously limited with his options right now. The only thing he could really think to do was to just keep trying to call Prompto’s cell and hope that maybe he would eventually pick up.

After taking a deep breath, Noctis slowly and deliberately dialed Prompto’s number, sending a quick prayer up to Shiva or anyone else who might hear him that Prompto would actually pick up the other line. Even if it was to pick up the phone and joke about how he was a dumbass and totally forgot to tell him he was on his way back or whatever other random excuse he came up with. Noctis would take _anything_ at this point.

Noctis could hear his heartbeat strong and fast each time he heard the dial tone, but ultimately it seemed as though the astrals weren’t in a very giving mood right now as he was once again listening to Prompto’s automated voicemail message.

Noctis’s heart grew heavy, sighing deeply as he wondered what had happened and if he and Prompto would ever actually end up making it to Prom, because it seemed pretty clear that was some higher power that was working very hard to prevent them from doing so.

Noctis quickly glanced at his phone and just so happened to notice that the signal on his phone was strangely low. It seemed like a pretty insignificant difference, but maybe that was part of the why his previous call to Prompto hadn’t gone through?

_It’s probably nothing, but it’s better than standing around doing nothing…_ he thought to himself as he started wandering around attempting to find somewhere that wasn’t a complete dead zone.

Luckily, Noctis seemed to find a pretty strong signal as he approached the side of the building and decided, _what the hell…_ , and decided to dial the blonde _one last time_ before putting the device up to his ear.

Noctis wasn’t sure if it was because he was so desperate to hear from the blonde that his mind instantly started mimicking Prompto’s loud and cheerful ringtone; but if he didn’t know any better… Noctis could swear that he could hear it. It was quiet and sounded kind of muted, but it was definitely-

WAIT AN ASTRAL DAMNED SECOND.

There was no way he was imagining it… that was DEFINITELY the chocobo theme that always played loud and clear anytime anyone ever called the blonde.

Without hanging up, Noctis dropped his phone down to his side and closed his eyes, trying to see if he could determine in what general direction the subdued music was coming from.

Noctis really wasn’t sure what to expect as he got close and closer to the source of the noise, but when he finally turned a corner around the back of the building, the sight that met him was something that he would not have expected to see in a million years.

Pressed up against the wall of the building with his head tucked in between his knees as he wept was none other than the very same boy that Noctis had been looking so desperately for.

“Prom?!?” He shouted in surprise as he rushed over towards the distraught blonde, wondering what in the hell had happened to cause the blonde to change his mood so unexpectedly. “What’s going on? Why are you crying? Did someone hurt you? Tell me who it was and I swear when I’m done with them, they’ll never mess with you again…!”

Prompto’s body instantly went stiff and still as he instantly recognized exactly who it was that was talking to him. The choked sobs quieted, though the tears still seemed to be flowing down his face quicker than ever before.

“Heh…” Prompto attempted a half-hearted and defeated grunt. “Still playing the innocent card, are we? But it’s too late now, I know the truth, so you might as well give it up.”

“The truth…? The truth about what exactly?” Noctis asked, utterly confused and lost at the blonde’s unexpected statement.

“The truth about us…” Prompto continued, his voice steadily rising until he was all but yelling, “I know it was all a joke! I never should have let myself believe that you would ever actually like someone like me…!”

“Okay, seriously… what the _hell_ are you going on about?” Noctis shot back, “ _I_ was the one who asked you to be my date for tonight… why would I do that if I didn’t like you???”

“How the fuck should I know???” Prompto spat back, “You’re the one that made me think that we had something…! But it was all just a huge lie… and I fell for it hook, line and sinker!”

“What on Eos made you think that any of it was a lie???” Noctis argued desperately, even though he was still completely and utterly clueless about what could have possibly happened in the past few hours to change things so drastically. “I’m not sure about you, but it sure as all hell wasn’t a lie to me!!”

“I said you can drop the act, Noctis….” Prompto continued, his eyes narrowing as he glared down the boy in front of him. “I. SAW. YOU. I SAW YOU WITH THAT OTHER GUY….!”

“What other-” Noctis had started to say before everything suddenly seemed to click into place. “Wait… are you talking about the other guy that got out of the Regalia with me when I got here?”

Prompto refused to reply, but judging based on his reaction, Noctis got all the confirmation he needed.

“I’ll tell you right now that there is absolutely _nothing_ between me and that stupid, stuck up jerk…” He pleaded, hoping Prompto would believe him. “I _swear…_ he was hanging around the Citadel when I was leaving and he must have heard me talking to Specs about meeting you here. He’s visiting Lucis with his dad from Altissia and I guess they don’t do this kind of thing there, so he wanted to tag along and see what all the commotion was about and Iggy all but forced me to bring him. That’s it, you have to believe me…!”

Prompto was still incredibly quiet, but it was pretty obvious in the fact that he didn’t already start screaming at him that he must at least be considering what he had said.

“But…” He uttered hesitantly, “He was all over you and you… you…” Prompto sniffled, trying unsuccessfully to stem the tears still dripping down off his chin. “You didn’t do anything… you even seemed like you two were hitting it off… like you were enjoying it as he continued to practically crawl all over you.”

“Well yeah, of course I have to play nice with visiting diplomats…” Noctis reasoned. “The guy’s father is a super important Ambassador for Altissia. As much as I hate it… it’s my job as Crown Prince to be welcoming and friendly, or Iggy, Gladio and my Dad would all ground me indefinitely. So, of course I have to ACT like a good host, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoyed a second of it. I honestly was counting the seconds until I could ditch him.”

Prompto was silent and thoughtful for a few moments more, before he finally looked back as both of the boy’s eyes locked onto the other’s.

“You promise?” Prompto breathed.

“I swear to Shiva, I never meant to hurt you…” Noctis moaned remorsefully. “I honestly had no idea you were even there at first. I’m the world’s biggest dumbass and I’m so fucking sorry… honestly, you deserve someone so much better than me…”

“It’s okay…” Prompto replied. “I guess I probably shouldn’t have jumped to my own conclusions so quickly… so, I’ll forgive you, if you forgive me?” Prompto finished, specifically choosing not to mention the whole encounter he had with those two guys before Noct had showed up. He had let his anxieties and fears get the better of him, so the way Prompto saw it, he was as much to blame as Noct was.

“Yeah. I think I can live with that.” Noct smiled as he pulled a tissue out of his pocket and extending his other hand to help Prompto get to his feet before handing the tissue to said blonde so he could dry any remaining moisture still on his cheeks.

“Well, we’ve gotten this far….” Noct finally spoke up “Seems like a bit of a waste if we never actually made it inside. Shall we?”

Prompto couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to finally getting to the part where we actually start having some fun.”

Both boys couldn’t help but laugh, unable to stop grinning as they finally headed back towards the entrance to the large building, but not before gently intertwining their hands together.

It was a completely different world inside with all the decorations and loud music playing; and Prompto wasted no time in quickly dragging his date out on the dance floor. He fully intended to make sure he took advantage of every remaining moment he had to spend with Noct tonight.

Thankfully, whoever the DJ was, they clearly knew their stuff and Prompto found it easy to almost completely lose himself, intentionally choosing to do the most ridiculous dance moves he could possibly think of while Noct just rolled his eyes affectionally and accepted the fact that his date was a complete and utter dork. Though, if Noct was being honest, he certainly had his moments of super dorkiness too, so if they had to be huge dorks, at least they would be huge dorks together.

The two boys had been dancing for who knew how long, when suddenly the song that was currently blaring came to an end and the DJ decided to use the brief silence to make a quick announcement.

“Okay, ladies and gents… I think it’s about time to slow things down a bit…” He called out loudly as the music that started up next was much slower and softer. “This song is for all the lovebirds out there tonight, so go ahead and grab your lucky lady or lad and let’s keep this night of love going strong…”

After the conclusion of the DJ’s announcement, Prompto attempted to start making his way back to their table, but was stopped in his tracks when Noct quickly grabbed his arm.

“And where exactly do you think you’re going?” He asked, unable to hide the small smirk now present on his face.

“Uh, to sit down?”

“You don’t want to dance with all the other couples?”

“Uh- yeah… well,” Prompto mumbled nervously as he quickly became very interested with the laces on his shoes. “Dancing to all the fast songs are one thing… people aren’t paying that much attention and don’t care how crazy you dance during those, you just kinda make up moves and it’s whatever…” he muttered before finishing with a, “Anyway, I don’t know the first thing about _actual_ dancing, and you _know_ that everyone’s gonna be staring at us if we do.”

“You didn’t seem to care about any of that when you were doing whatever the hell those moves were just now.” Noct insisted with another quick grin.

“T-That’s different…!” Prompto exclaimed.

“Who cares if they stare anyway?” Noct quickly shot back. “I always get stared at… but I definitely wouldn’t mind… as long as I’m with you.”

Prompto sighed quietly, knowing that it was probably futile to fight Noct on this…. not to mention, there was definitely a _very_ small part of him that almost _wanted_ people to see them dancing together.

“Fine… you win.” Prompto muttered quietly, as Noct couldn’t help but grin triumphantly and quickly proceeded to arrange their arms so that he was holding the blonde close with his hands on either side of Prompto, and Prompto proceeded to put his arms so that they were resting around either side of Noct’s neck.

Prompto quickly came to find out that there wasn’t much to slow dancing… for the most part, it pretty much just consisted of rocking side to side while attempting to stay in tune with the music.

As he did so, Prompto couldn’t help but become absolutely captivated by Noct’s piecing blue eyes. Their bodies so close together that their noses were practically touching; and Prompto… well Prompto wished that he could just stay right here, frozen in this moment forever.

Everything was perfect.

Thinking back, he honestly wasn’t sure how he had ever managed to work up the courage it took to initially approach Noct, but he was so incredibly thankful he did. It was the best decision he had ever made, because now he couldn’t possibly imagine a life without Noct in it. Noct made him feel important, made him feel wanted. He made him feel loved-

“Did I ever actually get a chance to tell you how fucking amazing you look tonight? Because it’s true and honestly, I just can’t stop staring…” Noct suddenly said, instantly pulling the blonde from his thoughts.

“Noooct…” Prompto whined, and if they hadn’t been smack in the middle of a darkened room, Noct would have easily been able to see the way the blonde started to blush madly.

“That’s not fair… you have to know that _you’re_ definitely the one that looks unbelievably stunning tonight…” Prompto muttered before adding, “Well… to be honest, you _always_ look good, but tonight you’ve definitely reached a whole new level of it’s unfair how fucking good you look tonight.”

“Nope,” Noct came back once more, “You always looks a million times better than me… it kind of drives me nuts, ya know?” he finished with a quick laugh.

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Prompto grinned. “But it’s definitely worse for me, I’m telling you that right now.”

“Nope. Impossible.” Noct breathed as he stared back into Prompto’s beautifully striking blue eyes wondering how in the world he had ever been so lucky to have someone like Prompto in his life.

Prompto was always there whenever he needed him, no matter how silly or stupid the reason. Whenever he was feeling low, just seeing the other’s name pop up on his phone as the two of them texted furiously about anything and everything, never failed to instantly brighten his mood. Prompto definitely had to be some kind of gift from the Astrals above, because Noct was never happier than when he was with Prompto, regardless of wherever they were or whatever they were doing.

Prompto didn’t hang out with him out of obligation like everyone else in Noctis’s life. He didn’t care for a second that Noctis was royalty. When the two of them were together Noctis didn’t have to think about any of the shit that came with being the Crown Prince… to Prompto he was Noct, just Noct and nothing else.

Prompto was there for him through thick and thin because he _actually_ and _genuinely_ cared about him, and Noct sure as hell cared about Prompto. He knew that he would be completely and 100% lost without Prompto in his life.

It was in that very moment that both boys realized something as they continued dancing slowly along with the music. They were both completely and utterly head over heels in love with the other; and there was absolutely nothing or no-one on the entirely of Eos that would ever be able to change that.

“Prompto… I-” Noct started to before he decided to go for absolute broke and closed the remaining distance between their lips, pressing forward gently. He was further spurred on by the fact that moments later, he could feel Prompto’s lip’s pressing back as the two boys became lost in each other’s love.

“Me too.” Prompto breathed as he pulled away just long enough to catch his breath, before once again joining their lips as everything and everyone around them disappeared and Prompto focused solely on the raven-haired boy in front of him, knowing this was a night he would never ever forget, because it was the night that he realized he had fallen in love with his best friend and he found out that his best friend had fallen in love with him too.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading!
> 
> Comments are always appreciated. :)
> 
> Come hang with me on tumblr? ^-^ [ever-at-your-side-15](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ever-at-your-side-15)


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